Election Results Being Ignored

William

Typically a Special Assessment would require 2/3rds of ALL OWNERS approving. Read your docs closer to be sure this is the case in your association. If so the BOD will need to conduct another vote.

People often confuse 2/3rds of ALL Owners with 2/3rds of owners at a meeting. Not the same thing unless all owners were at the meeting.

Yes, when computing percentages for voting, you have to round up. If 2/3 is 9.2, then you need 10 - because 9 is less than 2/3.

Re: approval of special assessments - I don't believe all states require membership approval (mine doesn't). However, our lawmakers approached the issue from the other end, requiring annual reserve contributions according to the latest reserve study unless the majority of the membership approves a lower contribution (and this must be an annual approval).

Personally I'd be more concerned about hiring unlicensed contractors to do the work. Unlicensed may also mean they're not properly insured - I'd bet on it - and if one of them gets injured, your association and the homeowners personally will be in a world of hurt.

Fixing this is a lot of work, and you'll need help from your fellow owners.

* First, read your governing docs and applicable state laws thoroughly so that you understand how to replace board members. Do you have enough homeowners who are willing to serve on the board? If not, this is going nowhere.

* Hire a lawyer to legally challenge the vote. This is more expensive, and it doesn't solve the long-term problem of board members who don't know what they're doing and apparently don't want to know.

* Call a realtor and run for your life.

-- WilliamK8, please quote verbatim exactly what your covenants say about special assessments and any vote required to approve them.

-- I do not see anything in the NC condo act requiring a vote as you describe.

-- Like CathyA3 posted, and as you suspect, yes, for issues like this, the number required is computed by rounding up to the nearest whole number.

-- Both the vote and the fact that an election was not run are both problematic as far as this special assessment is concerned.

-- A Special Assessment is usually a sign of poor planning by the boards over the years. I am betting its more likely than not that a special assessment is in fact needed.

-- In my experience, one's review of any recent reserve study recently done is critical to one's being intelligent in one's remarks on this special assessment.

-- Re the "company," much more elaboration is needed, starting with: For whom does this company work?

-- WilliamK8, please quote verbatim exactly what your covenants say about special assessments and any vote required to approve them.

It does call for 2/3 of all owners (even our master board members (who are trying to stay OUT of this LOL bc our sub-Board Prez is suing them) plus every one else I've talked with immediately said the numbers don't add up, even if we used the Quorum as the base. He got 9 Yes votes out of 28 and is calling that 67% - and promising the next meeting in April (not an election mtg) but just to update on the Assessment Schedule) Did I mention he claimed out lender here stipulated that we suspend HOA elections for the life of the loan (or 5 years)

-- A Special Assessment is usually a sign of poor planning by the boards over the years. I am betting its more likely than not that a special assessment is in fact needed.

Very much - and according to neighbors, our current leadership is largely to blame (I just moved into this mess) so we need urgent work, which greases the wheels for a spectacularly shady deal. Ever heard of 750-sqft 1-br condos getting hit with a single assessment totaling over $13K to include siding, all windows (many not needed), all chimney rebuilt (most not needed), replace every staircase (many not needed) plus gutters, mailboxes & 4 or 5 smaller items - all going to a single company that keeps repeating out loud how often they've worked with our Prez at his other HOAs (he's president of 3 board and served on a 4th he repeatedly says - Who does that??

-- Re the "company," much more elaboration is needed, starting with: For whom does this company work?

They're unlicensed for jobs over $30K - this would be $350K. It was a misdemeanor for them just to bid, NCLBGC tells me. I do not know who they would technically be employed by, presumably our sub-board if theings were on the up and up.

put together this site to wake up my co-owners who are largely dormant. That's been the biggest hurdle of all, especially with off-site >>> https://isthisaccurate.weebly.com/

Correction: You should hire an attorney to assist you in removing your directors (not officers).

Many thanks for the helpful advice and the Condo statutes - which I was unaware of.

Guess the bigger issue here might be that enough owners are desperate enough, or apathetic/absent enough, or straight up clueless enough not to recognize the dangers of handing unlicensed contractors over a quarter of million dollars.

Highly doubtful we can force a vote because of that apathy - and if our Prez were to ever get around to holding a legit election, he might still get elected by virtue of little competition and folks not paying attention.

William

How difficult can it be to communicate with all 28 owners? Why not produce a letter with your concerns and inviting Concerned Fellow Owners to an Open Discussion Meeting that you set up. Slip it under their door. Post is all over. This meeting cannot be stopped nor controlled by the BOD. Otherwise just keep complaining online to people outside your association for what little use it does.

Local real estate records should show owners' mailing addresses.

From my own experience, using DocuSign and making the request for a meeting and proxy as simple as possible and as specific as possible are the ways to go.

Sounds like you're in great shape and I'm glad to see that you're standing up against a bad HOA.

-- Ditto what ChrisE8 and JohnC46 said, regarding the OP's progress and proxies.

-- From the NC Condo Act at § 47C-3-108. Meetings:
===
(a) A meeting of the association shall be held at least once each year. Special
meetings of the association may be called by the president, a majority of the executive
board, or by unit owners having twenty percent (20%) or any lower percentage specified
in the bylaws of the votes in the association. Not less than 10 nor more than 60 days in
advance of any meeting, the secretary or other officer specified in the bylaws shall cause
notice to be hand-delivered or sent prepaid by United States mail to the mailing address of
each unit or to any other mailing address designated in writing by the unit owner, or sent
by electronic means, including by electronic mail over the Internet, to an electronic mailing
address designated in writing by the unit owner. The notice of any meeting must state the
time and place of the meeting and the items on the agenda, including the general nature of
any proposed amendment to the declaration or bylaws, any budget changes, and any
proposal to remove a director or officer.
...
===

-- A bit more on calling Special Meetings appears at https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByChapter/Chapter_47C.pdf

-- WilliamK8, what, if anything, do the Bylaws state is the quorum requirement for a meeting of the membership?

-- If the Bylaws are silent on quorum, then the NC Condo Act says quorum is met as follows:
===
47C-3-109. Quorums.
(a) Unless the bylaws provide otherwise, a quorum is deemed present throughout any meeting of the association if persons entitled to cast twenty percent (20%) of the votes which may be cast for election of the executive board are present in person or by proxy at the beginning of the meeting.
...
===

-- The Act has a bit more on quorum. See the link above.

-- To repeat the Act at section 47C-3-103 (b): "Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration or bylaws to the contrary, the unit owners, by a majority vote of all persons present and entitled to vote at any meeting of the unit owners at which a quorum is present, may remove any member of the executive board with or without cause, other than members appointed by the declarant."

-- If per chance each of the 28 units has exactly one vote, then a mere six units can call for the Special Meeting. If all six unit attend the meeting in person or by proxy, and the Bylaws are silent on quorum, then quorum is met. If the Bylaws are silent on quorum, then a mere four units can toss out the directors.